Mirage Boats

[Jgebhardt]

Mirage Boats and Mike Mullins


I hate to make a post like this because I am a huge fan of Mirage Boats but this needs to be put out there.


Back in mid March, I contacted Mike Mullins about building me a boat. We talked about details of the boat and how much I had to spend. I told him that I had $12,000 for just a hull because I already had a trailer. He said he would build the hull for $10,500. I DID NOT ASK HIM TO BUILD IT THAT CHEAP. He said he would put a layer of carbon Kevlar in the bottom (which he did) he also said he would vacuum infuse the bottom (which he did not). After he gave me the price, I asked about steering and the front seat. He asked if I was going to pay in cash and I said yes. He said since I was paying cash, he would include the front seat and steering for the price he quoted me. I said “deal, I’ll be there in the next few days to get this thing started”. I showed up on March 15 and gave him $9000 to start the boat. Before I left, I asked “am I looking at 4-6 weeks before I get the boat?”. He said “yes”. Fast forward two months and not only do I not have a boat, it hasn’t even been started and I got tons of excuses every week or two. Another month goes by and it’s finally started. After another month, he tells me it’s time to pick it up. I show up with my trailer and they are still working on it for another two hours after I got there. While I waited, Mike and I did paperwork and I paid him the rest of the money.


I was in a hurry to beat Orlando traffic on my way back from his shop with the boat, so I didn’t look it over real hard. When I got home, I looked it over and found a few blemishes in the gel coat, screws missing from the rub rail and mismatched screws in the rear cowling hinges. They only gel coated the areas that can easily be seen. Then I looked at the steering he gave me with the boat. It was a Pro Marine brand 1000 psi system that he paid $505 and total not suitable for high speed applications. I contacted Mike about the blemishes and the steering. He said they would fix the blemishes but played like he didn’t know about the steering. Then he said Pro Marine said it should be ok. SHOULD BE OK. Yeah I want my life depending on should be ok. I was supposed to be ok with using the steering, because he “threw it in”. We went back and forth about the steering for two days and he finally agreed to at least swap the help out for a 1500 psi helm.


While he had my boat in his shop to fix the blemishes, I asked him to fix a scratch on the bottom and get the rear seat upholstery done and I’d pay him for it. When it was in his shop, he saw that I commented on someone’s post, looking for a boat on High Performance Boating, that I would sell them my brand new, never seen the water Mirage for $16,000 fully rigged with brand new everything on a trailer. Mike called me pissed of because I was selling it for way more than I paid for it. Keep in mind I bought an empty hull with no trailer from him and I was selling a fully rigged boat with a trailer. Of course it would be more.


Fast forward to today. I contacted the vinyl shop to order the stickers for the boat that Mike didn’t put on it. They told me Mike told them not to sell stickers without his permission. I contact Mike ask him if I can buy some stickers. He said yes, for $325. Last time I bought them they were $35 a set. I asked why they were ten times as much and he said “there will be no more deals” here and then complained more about me trying to sell MY BOAT.

[CUDA]

Give Allison a call and ask about price, or a STV, you got a deal at $10,500. If you want quality call Jack but it won't be 10,500

[XstreamVking]

Sounds like a great deal. He may have believed you were going to actually use the boat and not flip it....

[Jgebhardt]

Give Allison a call and ask about price, or a STV, you got a deal at $10,500. If you want quality call Jack but it won't be 10,500

I asked how much not how cheap. He quoted the price. There is **** work all over the boat. If I knew it was going to lo come out like it did, I wouldn’t have bought it. I am also not looking for sympathy, I’m posting a buyer beware and your comment is less than useful.

[Jgebhardt]

Sounds like a great deal. He may have believed you were going to actually use the boat and not flip it....

I planned on using it but after all the bull****, lies and ****ty workmanship. I didn’t want to promote his boats. I have tons of pictures of the half assed work.

[Jgebhardt]

[stoker2001]

sounds like good ol Mikey..LONG story,I referred my close Friend Bill ERkelen to the orange/white carbon 1/4 master that was at Brian Hardins place for sale (owned by John).It was sitting around for 6 years never rigged cause when they drilled the holes thru transom (for motor)they found it was COMPLETLY delaminatedThey sold boat to Bill without disclosing this..they were pissed cause good ol MM didn't disclose to them..Bill got screwed and had to eat costs to totally replace transom!KARMA will come around

[JPEROG]

I don't think that this is anything new,"I really thought that it was common knowledge", Kevin and Sean were the last guys pledged by him and he got so frustrated that he sold the boat and moved on. There is a reason that most guys only want STVs that have been built by a couple of builders. The market price of everything is dictated by quality, supply and demand-always has been and always will be. The old STVs are a great example of this when they sell for the same as they were new 25 and 30 years ago. Jack does build a nice boat for the money and he is one of very few that is still an active enthusiast/racer/builder of small performance boats.

The upside to this situation that you are in is this: You are into it cheap enough that you can correct the issues and or sell it for what you have into it and let someone else finish it. Either way, its spilled milk, done, and you need to keep moving forward "things could be much worse" there is no sense in wasting energy that you can put into a positive direction and towards getting back on the water.

Joe

[MattGreen]

I’m not trying to beat you or Mike up, just a few questions:
Was there any evidence that he has successfully vacuum-infused boats before ? Is the mold setup for that ? Did he have big resin pump system ? Did either of you talk about the material costs associated with an infusion layup ?

Matt

[Jgebhardt]

I don’t know if he has the equipment to do it or not. I just know he didn’t do it because I was there when they were laying the bottom. The infusion was a mistake in terms on my part. It was supposed to be vacuum bagged and it wasn’t. I have plenty of pictures of the boat being built and cod conversations to back up everything I said in my original post.

[Jgebhardt]

I don't think that this is anything new,"I really thought that it was common knowledge", Kevin and Sean were the last guys pledged by him and he got so frustrated that he sold the boat and moved on. There is a reason that most guys only want STVs that have been built by a couple of builders. The market price of everything is dictated by quality, supply and demand-always has been and always will be. The old STVs are a great example of this when they sell for the same as they were new 25 and 30 years ago. Jack does build a nice boat for the money and he is one of very few that is still an active enthusiast/racer/builder of small performance boats.

The upside to this situation that you are in is this: You are into it cheap enough that you can correct the issues and or sell it for what you have into it and let someone else finish it. Either way, its spilled milk, done, and you need to keep moving forward "things could be much worse" there is no sense in wasting energy that you can put into a positive direction and towards getting back on the water.

Joe

I honestly don’t really want to sell it. I was ecstatic about getting a brand new hull but it hasn’t turned out well and I’m pretty frustrated with the whole situation. That’s why I commented that I’d sell it on someone’s post that was looking for a boat. That set Mike off and started this whole downward spiral.

I’ve been looking forward to getting back on the water for over four months but with the way I run with Jason, I am honestly scared to death that it’s going to come apart.

[HStream1]

The same goes for the Brad Collins Built Mirages. They were built with Pride and Quality!!!

There is a reason that most guys only want STVs that have been built by a couple of builders. The market price of everything is dictated by quality, supply and demand-always has been and always will be. The old STVs are a great example of this when they sell for the same as they were new 25 and 30 years ago.
Joe

[John S]

I am honestly scared to death that it’s going to come apart.

Sorry to hear the deal went this way OP. GPI Randy was famous for screwing people with ****ty work, and used/ stolen parts, eventually he got what he had coming to him. Are you seriously concerned that the boat is structurally unsound, or just venting? Because that would be pretty bad to sell off something that could hurt the next guy down the road without letting them know aboot it. If you seriously feel the boat is flawed enough to be defective, it might be time to either ask for your money back, or talk to a lawyer.

[Jgebhardt]

Sorry to hear the deal went this way OP. GPI Randy was famous for screwing people with ****ty work, and used/ stolen parts, eventually he got what he had coming to him. Are you seriously concerned that the boat is structurally unsound, or just venting? Because that would be pretty bad to sell off something that could hurt the next guy down the road without letting them know aboot it. If you seriously feel the boat is flawed enough to be defective, it might be time to either ask for your money back, or talk to a lawyer.

It may be fine. I just have it in my head, if can see all these issues, there’s no telling what I can’t see. As far as selling it goes, I’m just frustrated with the whole situation and want to get away from a boat that has anything to do with Mike Mullins. If there was something seriously wrong with it and I knew about it, I wouldn’t sell it without disclosing what I know. My concern about it staying together comes from the fact that I run the absolute guts out of my boats 2-3 days a week, every week, year round.

[JPEROG]

Someone will want it for that kind of money. Disclose this thread and what you know then you have done your part. Going to an attorney is always the first step to losing. There is absolutely no money left in building a boat for 10K-I have no idea why anyone would think different-repairs jobs cost 10k, paint jobs cost 10K....

Joe